# Just got new bi-focals (progressive), is this normal?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-new-bi-focals-progressive-is-this-normal/660846>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 12, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-new-bi-focals-progressive-is-this-normal/660846 "2013-06-12T20:11:04Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\
**Post date:** [June 13, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-new-bi-focals-progressive-is-this-normal/660846/21 "2013-06-13T21:57:42Z")

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> [@Saintly\_Loser](#):
>
> Some people just can’t adjust to progressives. I’m one of them. I fined that old-fashioned lined bifocals (well, trifocals for me now) are much, much easier to live with.

My father was told to skip bifocals and go straight to trifocals by a number of friends whom he disregarded, then almost immediately agreed they’d been right. 😉

He said that with bifocals he could see the road while driving just fine, and could see to read a map, but was completely unable to see his speedometer. 🙂

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**Author:** ![obbn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/d6d6ee/32.png) [@obbn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obbn)\
**Post date:** [June 14, 2013, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-got-new-bi-focals-progressive-is-this-normal/660846/22 "2013-06-14T01:34:43Z")

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Once again, thanks for all the replies. I reread my last post and noticed my new glasses still haven’t helped me proofread before I hit the post button. Dammit. Day two is going well, still haven’t got used to the peripheral blur yet. It seems strange that the blur starts at only a few degrees from center. If I’m reading a sentence the blurring stats about four words from the center word I’m looking at. I’ll so by the doctor just to verify this is normal and not a manufacturing defect. I would hope that if cut right the blur would start appearing a bit father from the center.

One thing I have definitely noticed today is that everything looks brighter through the glasses. Is that normal? I experimented several times, looking through the glasses and then without. Close up or distance it’s like the brightness level had been turned up. Is thus normal or my imagination?

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